plaid scarf tutorial

She has some SERIOUS sewing skills (I cannot recommend her Sewing 101 series highly enough!) repurposes with great skill, has fantastic ideas (I need to make one of these toy cameras for my nieces!), and we share a grand love for pleats. Soul mates, I tell you.

And, YAY!, she’s here with some Gifts for Guys goodness to share!

I have lots of guys on my list! One of my favorite things about having guys in my life is dressing them up as much as they will let me. Guy clothes are really so fun! I converted my husband to scarves this fall. I wrapped one around his neck and he said “Woah, my neck is so warm!” …Woah, amazing! He sure has been missing out.

This tutorial is for a scarf with just 1 yard of fabric. It’s really the easiest kind of project! I’ll scale it down for you for a little guy, too with 1/2 yard. I have a little trick so it’s not wrapped around his neck. Let’s get to it!

Fabric:I used a true plaid for this, but you can use anything soft and warm. (A true plaid is one that is made with different colored threads, making it a reversible fabric. A fake plaid is just printed.) Also think flannel, knits, corduroy. Anything that you think would be cozy around your neck!

“man version”For the adult size scarf you need just 1 yard of 42″ fabric. If you have it straight off the bolt, it will be folded in half at the top. Cut along the fold line, so you will have two pieces. They’ll be about 26″ tall by 1 yard long.

Pin those two pieces together at the short sides and sew at 3/8″. Press the seam flat.

Sew up all around the open edges of the scarf at 3/8″. Leave an opening at one of the short ends, as shown below.

Clip the corners of your seam allowance, then turn your scarf right sides out and press.

When you get to the edge with the opening, turn under 3/8″ on both the top and bottom and press.

Pin together and topstitch the whole edge, backstitching at each end. Top stitch the other end also.

That’s it! You’re done, now you have a plaid scarf for your man! If you want a thicker scarf you can add a layer of quilt batting to the middle. But I like ‘em thin. The finished dimensions will be a little over a foot tall by about 6 feet long! Perfect length!

little kid version

I always worry about putting a scarf around wild little boy. Call me paranoid. So I made this version with velcro, so it doesn’t wrap around any little necks. In trial runs, my baby can pull it over his head quicker than I can put it on, so I say it’s a safe accessory for a trendy toddler.

So here’s 1/2 yard of fabric, with the fold at the top.

First, cut along the top fold.

You’ll only need one layer, so get rid of the other. Cut your piece in half.

Sew these two pieces together and finish the scarf the same way as in the adult version.

To make it easy to get off I used velcro. Pin a small piece of velcro about 12″ in from the edge of your scarf.

To make it look like a wrapped scarf, tack the edges by folding them in and using a needle and thread to sew the layers together. This is optional though, just if you don’t want it hanging down.

Done!

Now go wrap up your boys!

I sure love my guys! They’re pretty cute, huh?

Also on their Christmas lists: a hard drive to double-back-up movies (?) for the husband and more skinny ties for the boy.